The premium of general insurance companies in the month of August rose by 12.80 per cent to Rs 19,290.70 crore from Rs 17,101.72 crore in August 2022.
Among the industry majors, Bajaj Allianz Insurance Company Ltd recorded the fastest growth of 64.27 per cent in premiums to Rs 1,677.87 crore as compared to Rs 1,021.40 crore in the year-ago period.
The New India Assurance Company, which has the highest market share, recorded a modest growth of 2.63 per cent to Rs 2,310.59 crore from Rs 2,251.27 crore in the year-ago period.
On a sequential basis, the premium of general insurance companies dropped by 17 per cent from July, which was Rs 23,259.23 crore.
According to a report by Jefferies, private players’ growth slowed from 26 per cent to 16 per cent, year-on-year, in August as compared to a growth of 5 per cent for state-run insurers.
Among major players, the growth of ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company Ltd moderated to 16 per cent in August 2023 as compared to a growth of 22 per cent in July 2023.
SBI General Insurance Company’s August premium slipped by nearly 17 per cent to Rs 1,246.48 crore from Rs 1,500.75 crore in August 2022.
The premium of Standalone Health Insurers rose by 25.65 per cent to Rs 2,590.88 crore from Rs 2,061.96 crore in August 2022, led by Care Health Insurance Ltd and Niva Bupa Health Insurance Company Limited.
New business premiums of life insurance companies in August 2023 declined by 18.47 per cent to Rs 26,788.6 crore from Rs 32,856.38 crore reported during the same period of the previous year.
The country’s largest insurer, Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC), recorded a 34 per cent fall in new business premium to Rs 14,292.53 crore. Similarly, ICICI Prudential Life Insurance also recorded a near 5 per cent fall to Rs 3,124.61 crore from the year-ago period.
Meanwhile, other prominent players like HDFC Life Insurance, SBI Life Insurance, and Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance Company Ltd recorded healthy growth, cushioning the decline in the new business premium across the industry.
For the April-August period, the new business premium of life insurers declined by 12.33 per cent year-on-year to Rs 1.45 trillion, mainly due to a 25 per cent fall in LIC’s first-year premium.